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Posted on Mon, Nov 5, 2012 : 11:22 a.m.

Purple Rose Theatre offers readings of new plays at Chelsea Library

By AnnArbor.com Staff

Jim Porterfield, Michael Brian Ogden and Matthew David during a Purple Rose Theatre Company concert reading last season.

Photo by Danna Segrest

The Purple Rose Theatre Company will present two free concert readings of plays being considered for future production at the Chelsea District Library in November and December 2012.

As part of the professional theatre company’s ongoing partnership with the award-winning library, the readings will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 10 and Saturday, December 1 in the McKune Room of the Chelsea District Library. The library is located at 221 South Main Street in Chelsea, and each reading will be followed by an audience talkback with the director and actors.

On Saturday, November 10 at 10:30 a.m., PRTC artists will read an untitled new play by Michael Brian Ogden, the author of "Bleeding Red" and "Corktown." In the play, nurse Rachel Migilny is ringing in the New Year with her husband and looking towards a bright future together when the unthinkable happens: zombies attack! Flash forward to a post-zombie-apocalyptic society where a small band of survivors is trying to make their way to a safe zone, where there may (or may not) be a cure. Will Rachel and her newfound allies survive the journey? This new play pushes the bounds of theatrical conventions and asks audiences to go along for the ride. Community members are invited to join the PRTC for the first public reading of this work-in-progress and give their feedback to the playwright and director after the reading. (This play contains adult language and themes.)

On December 1 at 10:30 a.m., members of the Purple Rose Theatre Company will read a new play by David MacGregor ("Consider the Oyster," "Gravity," "Vino Veritas") called "Scrooge Macbeth; or, A Shakespearean Christmas." This yuletide comedy tells the story of Bob, Sylvia, Victor, and Renee: the last actors standing after a food poisoning outbreak sidelines the cast of their community theatre’s holiday production. But that’s not the only setback: Sylvia has just discovered a boatload of red ink in the theatre group’s ledger. With impending financial ruin, a shortage of cast members, and an expectant audience just outside the doors, can these four amateur thespians concoct some holiday entertainment in time to save their theatre?

Both readings are free and open to the public. Registration for these events is strongly encouraged, due to limited seating. Registration is available by calling the Chelsea District Library at 734-475-8732 or by visiting http://bit.ly/SkRGVQ for the November 10 reading, and http://bit.ly/Tqe12S for the December 1 reading.